A user equipment (UE) may be configured to establish a connection with a network. For example, the UE may be a mobile device and utilize a wireless communications protocol. The UE may exchange data with the network directly and/or with other end devices through the network. Specifically, the UE may associate with a network component that serves as a primary serving cell (PCell). The PCell may control the manner in which the data is exchanged with the UE such as determining when uplink and downlink grants are given for the UE. The PCell may also control the mechanism used in exchanging data, particularly how data is transmitted to and received by the UE.
In a specific example, the PCell and the UE may be configured with a carrier aggregation functionality. The carrier aggregation functionality enables the PCell and a further secondary serving cell (SCell) to combine bandwidths to exchange data with the UE. Thus, with carrier aggregation, the PCell may provide a first portion of a total bandwidth for data to be exchanged while the SCell may provide a second portion of the total bandwidth. This carrier aggregation mechanism requires a higher amount of power as further processes are used to achieve this greater rate of transmission. There may be instances where the power usage from carrier aggregation using the SCell outweighs the benefit of the greater rate of transmission.